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Wilbur Armitage
|birth= century (year unknown) |nationality = |occupation = Librarian |family = Henry Armitage (ancestor); Marlene Yarrow (niece) |affiliations = Miskatonic University}}Wilbur Armitage was the head of the Special Collections at Miskatonic University Library in 2017.Tales from the Miskatonic University Library, loc. 932, ebook. His family had served the university and library for generations. His niece, Marlene Yarrow, was one of his three assistants. She was also his likely successor. His other two assistants were Jason Griffith and Petro Papagos.Ibid., loc. 946. In Spring, 2017, Armitage received a request from one Professor Gamal al-Zubi of Al-Azhar University in Cairo to borrow Miskatonic's copy of the [http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Necronomicon Necronomicon]. Al-Zubi's graduate student, Ahmad Goma, was to come to pick up the book in person.Ibid., loc. 891-916. In truth, Goma was Hafez ibn Abd-al-Rahim, a member of the Islamic State (ISIS). ISIS had threatened al-Zubi and his family to secure his cooperation and cover for Hafez ibn Abd-al-Rahim.Ibid. Armitage and his assistants all suspected the truth about "Goma". Each assistant librarian urged Armitage to refuse Goma the Necronomicon, both because they were not convinced of Goma's intentions, and because they knew dangers the Necronomicon presented. However, Armitage refused to violate interlibrary loan system. He also assured them that he'd done his research, that Al-Azhar University was part of the interlibrary loan system and that Professor al-Zubi was a distinguished scholar.Ibid., loc., 946. Hafez/Goma arrived at this time. Armitage satisfied himself that Hafez's paperwork was authentic, and took him to the Necronomicon. Armitage presented the book, which was held closed by a belt. Hafez was horrified by the realization that the book was bound in human flesh. Armitage warned Hafez not to unbuckle the book until he'd delivered it to Professor al-Zubi, otherwise Armitage could not answer for Hafez's safety.Loc. 961-975. Hafez agreed, and then asked to look inside the book. While Armitage didn't want to, it was a fair request, and undid the belt.Ibid. loc. 975. Hafez quickly read some of the text. However, he was soon horrified enough to beg Armitage to close it again. Armitage did, and Hafez put the book in his backpack and left.Ibid., loc. 991. Once Hafez was gone, Griffith once again chastised Armitage for letting the book go, likening the decision to giving an ICBM to North Korea. Papagos chimed in, saying that an ICBM will sit until used, while the Necronomicon did things on its own. Armitage reassured them that the course of history showed that the Necronomicon was capable of taking care of itself.Ibid., loc. 991-1006. Armitage was validated a few days later, when the BBC reported an attack on ar-Raqqah, Syria, which had been under the control of ISIS. The center of the city looked as if it had been removed, and none of the coalition forces fighting ISIS had been responsible. Early reports spoke of glowing eyes and sucker disks.Ibid., loc. 1051-1065. Armitage poured himself a glass of chablis, content that he'd done right by the interlibrary loan system, and secure in the knowledge that the Necronomicon had taken care of itself and would make its way back to the Miskatonic eventually.Ibid., loc. 1065. References Category:Librarians